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REVIEW: The Grand Budapest Hotel

This is the first Oscar-worthy film of the year. Peculiar that it’s being released in March, when most people are still catching the latest Academy Award winners. But peculiar is what writer-director Wes Anderson is all about and his latest is absolutely his best.

Forty-four year old Houston native Wes Anderson first made his mark 20 years ago with “Bottle Rocket”, followed by, among others, “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”, “The Royal Tennenbaums”, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Moonrise Kingdom”.

Always whimsical and meticulously and colorfully stylized down to every detail, every shot in this film is just gorgeous. Anderson is equally unique for his dry wit, sharp writing and droll rapid-fire speech, which Ralph Fiennes brilliantly nails as the concierge of a famous hotel in a make-believe Eastern European country, set during the rise of Nazism. This is the story of a stolen priceless painting and a family feud during rapidly changing times.

Wes Anderson’s films are always in a class by themselves but this tops them all. He creates his own world . Richer than his previous work, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is more than a quirky comedy. It’s pretty much perfect.